TORIC 
POINT 


PRESENTED  BY  THE 


GREEN    POINT    SAYINGS    BANK 
SEMICENTENNIAL 


Cibrary  of 


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Ex  Htbris 


SEYMOUR    DURST 


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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Dl'RST  Old  York  Library 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/historicgreenpoiOOfelt_0 


HISTORIC 
GREEN  POINT 


A  Brief  Account  of  the  Beginning  and   Develop- 
ment of  the  Northerly  Section  of   the  Borough 
of  Brooklyn,  City  of  New  York,  locally  known 
as  Green  Point 


By 
WILLIAM   L.  FELTER,  Ph.D. 

Principal  of  Girls'  High  School,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


ISSUED     IN     CONNECTION     WITH     THE     SEMICENTENNIAL     OF 

THE    GREEN     POINT    SAVINGS    BANK 

AND    BY    THAT    INSTITUTION 


HISTORIC    GREEX    POINT 


f5 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 


PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  GREEN  POINT 
SAVINGS  BANK 

William  M.  Meserole 
Edward  F.  Williams 
Timothy  Perry   .     . 
Ephraim  a.  Walker 
George  W.  Felter  . 


I 

January, 

1 869  - 

Januarv, 

1873 

. 

January, 

iH7.3^ 

May, 

1880 

July, 

1880- 

-    January, 

1909 

January, 

1909- 

-December, 

1917 

, 

.  January, 

1918- 

- 

VICE-PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  GREEN  POINT 
SAVINGS  BANK 

George  S.  Barton.     .     .  January,  1869— 


Nathaniel  S.  Bailey 
Farrel  Logan    .     . 
Henry  Preston 
William  Foulks 
Harvey  E.  Talmage 
Ephraim  A.  Walker 
Adrian  Meserole  . 
Charles  H.  Reynolds 
Donald  A.  Manson     . 


January,  1877 
January,  1869 —  January,  1874 
January,  1874 —  January,  1880 
January,  1877 —  March,  1878 
January,  1879 —  January,  1881 
January,  1880 —  January,  1896 
January,  1 88 1 —  January,  1909 
January,  1897 — September,  191 3 
January,  1909 — 
January,  1914 — 


PRESENT  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  GREEN  POINT 
SAVINGS  BANK 

William  B.  Cater  Donald  A.  Manson 

Henry  Ducker  David  Martin 

George  W.  Felter  Joseph  S.  Montgomery 

Frank  S.  Harlow  George  H.  Perry 

Lewis  Jurgens  William  C.  Reid 

James  A.  McCafferty  Charles  H.  Reynolds 
Frederick  W.  Smith 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 


DECEASED   TRUSTEES   OF    THE    GREEN    POINT 
SAVINGS    BANK 


H.  S.  Anable 
Nathaniel  S.  Bailey 
George  S.  Barton 
Fernand  S.  Bellevue 
A.  M.  Bliss 
Neziah  Bliss 
D.  D.  BoYCE 
Marvin  Briggs 
Herman  Cottrell 
John  B.  Downing 
NicKOLAS  Droge 
Henry  Eggers 
Carl  Feitzinger 
John  D.  Felter 
William  Foulks 
Samuel  S.  Free 
George  Hagemeyer 
Andrew  J.  Hennion 
P.  C.  Ingersoll 
James  L.  Jensen 
Thomas  D.  Jones 
Christian  H.  Koch 
Farrel  Logan 
Daniel  McCollum 


Adrian  Meserole 

Archibald  K.  Meserole 

William  M.  Meserole 

Adam  Metz 

Jonathan  Moore 

Claus  Olandt 

William  H.  Paine 

William  H.  Peer 

Albert  L.  Perry 

Timothy  Perry 

Henry  Preston,  Sr. 

James  Rollins 

Thomas  F.  Rowland,  Sr. 

John  Rowley 

Thomas  C.  Smith 

George  H.  Stone 

Frank  S.  Street 

Harvey  E.  Talmage 

James  W.  Valentine 

Chris.  Von  Bergen 

Ephraim  a.  Walker 

George  W.  Watts 

Robert  J.  Whittemore 

Edward  F.  Williams 


RESIGNED    TRUSTEES    OF    THE    GREEN    POINT 
SAVINGS   BANK 

Peter  Burden  Thomas  J.  Preston,  Sr. 

Thomas  F.  Rowland,  Jr. 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 


STATEMENT 

October  i,  1918 

GREEN  POINT  SAVINGS  BANK 


Resources  Par  Value            Market  Value 

Bonds  and  Mortgages..  .    $    6,486,575.  $    6,486,575. 

U.  S.  Government  Bonds  342,250. 

State  Bonds 366,000. 

County  Bonds 305,000. 

Bonds    of  Cities  of  this 

State 809,800. 

Bonds  of  Cities  of  other 

States 1,257,000. 

Town   Bonds 45,000. 

Rail  Road  Bonds 1,594,000. 

Market  Value  of  Bonds.  .  4,489,455.54 

Bank  Building 125,000.                    125,000. 

Other  Real  Estate 24,234.19                 24,234.19 

Interest  due  and  accrued  184,200.69               184,200.69 

Cash    on    hand     and    in 

Banks 803,032.84               803,032.84 

Liberty  Bond  Subscrip- 
tions    40,000.                     40,000. 


$12,382,092.72  $12,152,498.26 

Liabilities 

Balance  due  Depositors.    $10,946,355.12  $10,946,355.12 

Taxes  Accrued 2,000.  2,000. 

Guaranty  Fund 1,433,737.60  1,204,143.14 


$12,382,092.72       $12,152,498.26 


10  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  11 


FOREWORD 

THE  Green  Point  Savings  Bank  takes  great  pleasure 
in  presenting  this  succinct  account  of  the  history 
of  this  section  of  the  city  where  its  own  continuous  exist- 
ence of  half  a  century  has  been  successfully  spent.  The 
history  of  a  town,  city,  state,  or  nation  is  largely  the  his- 
tory of  its  great  men,  and  so  no  apology  |is  necessary  in 
listing  the  names  of  the  early  settlers,  the  pioneers  of  in- 
dustry, and  the  leaders  in  social,  educational,  and  church 
life.  Scattered  through  the  text  are  various  illustrations 
that  give  a  clear  view  of  the  personality  of  these  founders 
and  also  of  the  fifty  years  of  life  of  the  Savings  Bank. 
The  Officials  of  the  Bank  hope  that  this  record  will  be 
of  general  interest  and  that  it  may  prove  worth  preserva- 
tion because  of  its  historic  value. 

Grateful  acknowledgment  of  deep  obligation  is  hereby 
made  to  Mr.  Buel  C.  Haff  for  supplying  to  the  author 
all  the  salient  facts.  His  research  work  is  worthy  of  all 
praise. 

Credit  is  also  due  Mr.  Andrew  Jackson  Provost  and  Mr. 
Walter  M.  Meserole  for  valuable  assistance. 


1^2  .  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 


HISTORIC  GREKN  POIN'l' 


HISTORY  OF  GREEN  POINT 

EVERYBODY  is  interested  in  the  be^innini:;  of  things. 
We  look  at  the  majestic  oak  towering  to  the  sky, 
its  wide-spreading  branches  the  home  of  the  feathered 
songsters  of  the  air,  its  grateful  shade  a  boon  to  the  weary 
traveler,  and  in  imagination  we  go  back  to  the  tiny  acorn 
from  which  the  giant  oak  developed.  The  first  words 
of  the  Bible  are:  "In  the  beginning."  Rome,  the  city  of 
the  seven  hills,  traced  its  origin  to  the  fabled  Romulus 
and  Remus  suckled  by  a  wolf.  Berne,  the  capital  of 
Switzerland,  is  said  to  have  obtained  its  name  from  its 
reputed  founder  the  Duke  of  Zaehringen,  who  determined 
to  name  the  city  he  planned  to  build  for  the  first  animal 
he  met  and  killed.  Tradition  asserts  that  he  killed  a  bear. 
At  all  events  the  bear  is  to-day  the  national  emblem  of 
that  land  of  mountains  and  lakes.  So  Green  Point  many 
years  ago  had  its  humble  beginnings,  although  it  can 
claim  no  Romulus  nor  Remus.  It  is  our  purpose  to  dis- 
cover these  beginnings  and  bring  the  story  of  growth  and 
development  down  to  the  present  day. 

Green  Point  is  a  peninsula.  On  the  north  and  east 
Newtow^n  creek  marks  off  its  boundaries.  On  the  south 
Bushwick  creek  separates  it  in  part  from  Williamsburgh, 
and  the  East  River  is  its  western  boundary.  This  geograph- 
ical situation  almost  entirely  isolated,  gave  it  a  peculiar 
opportunity  for  separate  development  and  it  is  there- 
fore not  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  early  settlers  of  Green 
Point  were  men  of  independence  of  character,  self-depend- 
ent, and  possessing  those  native  traits  that  make  for  vigor- 
ous manhood. 

To  the  early  settlers,  however,  these  bodies  of  water 
were  known  by  other  names.     Newtown  creek  was  spoken 


14  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

of  sometimes  as  Maspeth  kill.  In  the  early  days,  there 
were  high  banks  stretching  from  the  mouth  of  this 
creek  as  far  as  the  present  Manhattan  avenue  bridge. 
Following  the  line  of  this  creek  inland  we  would 
have  found  in  early  times  a  salt  marsh  extending  to 
a  point  south  of  the  present  Blissville  bridge.  Here  the 
banks  rose  in  height  and  continued  so  as  far  as  Penny 
bridge.  This  salt  marsh  was  known  as  the  "Back 
Meadows."  They  formed  a  large  irregular  triangle  with 
the  apex  at  about  the  present  intersection  of  Driggs  ave- 
nue and  Humboldt  street.  Near  this  point  was  the  head 
of  a  water  course  called  Wyckoff's  creek,  running  northerly 
near  to  the  line  of  Green  Point  avenue  and  then  easterly 
to  Maspeth  kill,  its  mouth  being  somewhat  south  of  where 
stands  the  Blissville  bridge. 

On  the  north  side  of  Green  Point  avenue  these  salt 
meadows  were  drained  by  Whale  creek,  which  in  its  course 
followed  the  general  line  of  Humboldt  street.  This  creek 
as  well  as  WyckofF's  creek  had  many  small  tributaries 
and  devious  courses. 

Bushwick  creek  was  in  the  early  days  known  as  Nor- 
man's kill.  This  creek,  too,  drained  salt  meadows.  At 
high  water  the  tide  covered  the  meadows,  forming  a  beau- 
tiful miniature  bay,  but  the  retreating  waters  revealed 
an  expanse  of  green  sedge  and  brown  mud  flats.  Through 
these  wandered  the  two  deep  channels  of  the  kill  as  well 
as  numerous  little  meandering  tributaries. 

A  traveler  in  those  times  gazing  at  Green  Point  from  a 
boat  on  the  East  River  would  have  noticed  many  high 
sandy  headlands,  remnants  of  the  early  glacial  period, 
similar  to  those  still  remaining  along  the  north  shore  of 
Long  Island.  Near  where  the  foot  of  Freeman  street  now 
lies,  a  point  of  land  jutted  abruptly  beyond  the  shore 
line  into  the  river  for  a  considerable  distance.  This  point, 
covered  with  river  ooze  and  green  grass,  naturally  attracted 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  15 

the  gaze  of  the  sailors  on  passing  vessels,  who  gave  to  this 
verdant  projection  the  name  of  Green  Point. 

Originally  Green  Point  meant  only  this  projecting  piece 
of  land,  but  later  the  name  was  applied  to  the  entire  penin- 
sula from  Newtown  creek  to  Bushwick  creek  with  the 
enclosed  meadows.  It  was  not  until  1854,  when  this 
section  of  the  city  with  the  rest  of  the  town  of  Bushwick 
and  then  the  young  city  of  Williamsburgh  were  united 
with  the  older  city  of  Brooklyn,  that  the  elastic  name  of 
Green  Point  was  again  stretched  to  cover  the  whole  of 
the  present  seventeenth  ward. 

It  would  appear  from  what  precedes  that  the  neck  of 
high  ground  lying  east  of  the  Back  Meadows  and  north 
of  Meeker  avenue,  known  for  many  years  as  WyckofF 
farm  and  later  as  Kingsland  farm,  was  not  considered  in 
the  early  days  as  a  part  of  Green  Point.  This  section 
now,  however,  forms  a  very  important  portion  of  the  com- 
munity with  its  pleasant  homes,  its  large  industrial  estab- 
lishments and  beautiful  but  improperly  named  Winthrop 
park. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  peninsular  form  of 
Green  Point,  almost  surrounded  by  river,  creeks,  and 
marshes.  Its  only  upland  connection  with  Williamsburgh 
was  measured  by  the  length  of  Driggs  avenue  from  Leonard 
street  to  Humboldt  street.  Along  the  present  line  of 
Driggs  avenue  ran  an  ancient  highway,  the  west  end  of 
which  was  at  a  public  landing  place  on  Bushwick  creek, 
near  the  corner  of  Guernsey  street  and  Driggs  avenue. 
This  was  called  the  Wood  Point  Landing.  This  road 
east  led  along  the  line  of  Driggs  avenue  to  Humboldt 
street  and  from  that  point  followed  a  winding  course  to 
Bushwick  village.  This  road  along  Green  Point's  extreme 
southern  border  remained  the  sole  public  highway  until 
1838.  There  was,  however,  a  farm  lane  with  gates  at 
each   farm   line,  which   the  traveler  w^as   obliged   to  open 


16  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

and  close  at  each  passage^  giving  communication  to  the 
Green  Pomt  farms  from  this  W  ood  Point  road  which  took 
its  name  from  the  landing.  This  farm  lane  started  from 
the  back  end  of  the  most  northerly  farms  (Freeman  street 
west  of  Manhattan  avenue),  ran  across  the  hilly  portions 
of  the  farms  to  about  Green  Point  avenue  and  Oakland 
street,  and  then  along  the  edge  of  the  Rack  Meadows  to 
its  junction  with  the  Wood  Point  road  at  Humboldt  street. 

Let  us  m  imagination  follow  a  traveler  of  the  early  days 
as  he  goes  from  Green  Point  to  New  York,  an  event  for 
the  traveler  at  once  wearying  and  arduous.  He  would 
follow  the  farm  lane  and  the  Wood  Point  road  to  Bush- 
wick  village.  From  that  point  his  journey  took  him  to 
Bushwick  Cross  Roads  (Bushwick  and  Flushing  avenues), 
then  along  the  south  side  of  the  Wallabout  swamp  to 
Flushing  and  Nostrand  avenues,  from  thence  he  took  his 
way  over  the  hills  by  a  crooked  road  to  Bedford  Corners 
(Bedford  avenue  and  Fulton  street).  There  he  would 
come  upon  the  road  from  Jamaica  to  the  Brooklyn  ferry. 
This  road  followed  the  lines  of  Atlantic  and  Flatbush 
avenues  and  Fulton  street  to  the  river  shore.  Every 
foot  of  the  trip  was  made  in  deep  sand  or  loose  cobbles. 
It  was  a  long,  wearisome  ride  on  those  washed-out  and 
stony  roads,  over  many  miles  in  the  springless  wagons 
of  that  day. 

The  earliest  authentic  record  in  the  history  of  Green 
Point  dates  from  the  purchase  of  the  land  from  the  Indians 
by  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  in  1638.  The  ancient 
town  records  of  Bushwick  reveal  the  founding  of  the  Town- 
ship of  Bushwick  by  Governor  Stuyvesant  in  1660,  four 
years  before  New  Amsterdam  passed  under  the  control 
of  the  English  and  became  New  York.  It  will  be  recalled 
that  he  was  the  last  of  the  Dutch  governors  of  New  Am- 
sterdam, he  of  the  wooden  leg  and  peppery  temper.  It 
appears    that    the    governor    received    a    petition    reciting 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POIN  I 


the  fact  that  ''Fourteen  Frenchmen  with  a  Dutchman 
Pieter  Janse  Wit,  their  interpreter,  have  arrived  here." 
Acting  favorably  upon  this  petition  the  Dutch  governor 
founded  the  Township  of  Hushwick.  The  estabhshment 
of  this  township  marks  the  beginning  of  sociaF  and  polit- 
ical life  for  this  section. 

The  interpreter,  Pieter  Janse  Wit,  located  his  farm 
upon  the  neck  of  high  ground,  lying  north  of  Meeker  ave- 
nue between  the  Back  Meadows  and  Maspeth  kill,  and 
this  tract  later  became  one  of  the  most  desirable  portions 
of  Green  Point.  It  is  evident  that  Pieter  Janse  Wit  had 
qualities  of  leadership  and  was  a  man  of  parts,  for  he  be- 
came the  first  magistrate  of  the  town  and  for  many  years 
headed  the  list  of  names  in  the  records.  In  1720  this  land 
was  purchased  by  Peter  Lott,  and  twenty-nine  years  later 
was  sold  by  his  son  of  the  same  name  to  Abraham  Polhemus 
of  the  Brooklyn  family  of  that  name.  In  1799  it  was  con- 
veyed to  Peter  WyckofF  of  Bushwick,  and  in  1847  the 
larger  portion  was  bought  by  David  and  Ambrose  G. 
Kingsland,  who  held  it  until  it  was  laid  out  into  lots  and 
sold  for  building  purposes  in  the  eighties.  It  is  in  the 
memory  of  persons  still  living  that  this  transformation 
took  place,  of  a  truck  farm  to  its  present  crowded  homes 
and  streets. 

It  was  only  a  few  years  after  the  purchase  from  the 
Indians  that  a  number  of  so-called  Norman  families,  who 
were  really  Scandinavians,  settled  here.  One  of  these 
families,  headed  by  Dirck  Volckertsen,  better  known  as 
"Dirck  the  Norman,"  came  into  possession  of  the  whole 
of  Green  Point.  He  was  one  of  a  small  group  of  adven- 
turous Scandinavians  who  early  came  to  New  Amsterdam 
and  engaged  successfully  in  the  business  enterprises  of 
that  period.  Those  were  the  days  of  smuggling,  of  rum 
drinking,  of  hardy  sailors  free  in  the  use  of  their  dirks,  of 
gambling,   of  risk    and    adventure.     The   court    records   in 


18  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

the  case  of  Jan  de  Free  vs.  Dirck  the  Norman,  bring  to 
Hght  an  amusing  and  instructive  page  of  the  Hfe  of  that 
day.  Dirck  must  have  thrived  on  htigation,  for  his  name 
often  appears  as  complainant  or  defendant  on  the  court 
mmutes. 

The  patent  granting  the  ownership  of  Green  Point  to 
Dirck  the  Norman  was  dated  April  3,  1645.  He  built 
the  first  house  presumably  the  following  year.  It  rested 
upon  a  knoll,  about  where  Calyer  street  is  laid  out,  and 
from  one  to  two  hundred  feet  w^est  of  the  present  line  of 
Franklin  street,  only  a  few  feet  from  the  exact  location 
where  more  than  two  hundred  years  later  the  Green  Point 
Savings  Bank  began  its  successful  career.  The  site  of 
the  home  was  evidently  chosen  with  care.  The  lawn  sloped 
gently  in  front  to  Norman's  kill  on  the  south,  and  grad- 
ually to  the  East  River  on  the  west.  The  house  was  of 
stone,  one  and  a  half  stories  in  height,  with  dormer  win- 
dows, built  in  quaint  Dutch  style  with  old  Dutch  doors, 
studded  with  glass  eyes,  and  brass  knockers.  Eventually, 
the  farm,  orchard,  and  meadows  became  among  the  best 
of  those  of  early  days.  It  was  Dirck  the  Norman  who 
gave  the  name  to  Norman's  kill,  a  name  that  disappeared 
as  applied  to  a  body  of  water  but  reappeared  in  the  name 
of  Norman  avenue. 

By  trade  Dirck  the  Norman  was  a  ship  carpenter,  an 
occupation  that  for  many  years  kept  busy  many  men  in 
Green  Point.  Originally  Green  Point  was  an  agricultural 
community,  but  two  centuries  after  the  time  of  Dirck, 
ship  building  became  its  chief  industry.  Many  of  the  old 
boys  still  living  recall  with  pleasant  memories  the  many 
launchings  of  vessels  from  the  shore  of  Green  Point  mto 
the  East  River.  For  half  a  century  this  industry  held 
sway  to  be  deposed  later  by  other  industrial  activities. 
Dirck,  however,  did  not  follow  his  trade  but  devoted  him- 
self  to    agriculture    with    marked    success.      At    his    death 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  19 

his  sons  inherited  these  lands  and  sold  them  in  17 18.  The 
family  then  scattered,  some  going  to  Brooklyn,  others 
to  New  Jersey,  but  wherever  they  went  they  became 
men  of  affairs   and  influence. 

The  only  house  still  remaining  as  a  relic  of  the  first 
settlers  in  Green  Point  may  be  found  at  Meeker  avenue 
adjoining  Newtown  creek.  Some  modern  touches  have  been 
added  to  it  during  the  almost  two  and  one-half  centuries  it 
has  stood,  but  it  is  still  a  good  example  of  one  type  of  the 
Dutch  farmhouse  of  the  time  of  Pieter  Praa.  It  was  built 
by  Joost  Durie  (George  Duryea),  a  Huguenot  who  came 
from  Holland  to  America  and  settled  in  New  Utrecht. 
Later,  about  1681,  he  removed  to  the  disputed  land  between 
Bushwick  and  Newtown  and  erected  this  house.  Here  the 
Duryea  family  lived  for  over  a  century.  The  house  then 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Josiah  Blackwell,  for  whom  Black- 
well's  Island  is  named,  and  finally  became  the  possession  of 
William  Bleser,  in  whose  estate  it  still  remains.  When  this 
house  was  built  the  Dutch  livmg  outside  the  stockade  were 
obliged  to  fortify  their  homes,  because  the  Indians  were 
decidedly  hostile  as  a  result  of  the  crimes  against  them  by 
William  Keith,  the  Dutch  Governor.  Beneath  the  porch  in 
the  wall  may  be  seen  two  gun  holes  to  be  used  in  defending 
the  house  against  Indian  attacks. 

An  investigation  of  the  early  records  brings  to  light  a 
shrewd  and  wealthy  business  woman,  Christina  Cappoens. 
She  was  a  prominent  figure  in  New  Amsterdam,  and  at 
the  time  of  her  death  lived  on  what  is  now  known  as  Stone 
street  in  New  York  City.  Although  she  was  never  pos- 
sessed of  a  home  of  her  own  in  Green  Point,  she  was  in 
many  respects  a  very  important  link  in  the  development 
of  this  community,  as  will  shortly  appear.  The  name  as 
given  above  was  her  maiden  name,  and  like  all  w^omen 
of  that  time  she  was  known  by  her  maiden  name  together 
with  the  added  title  of  "wife  (or  widow)  of  Jacob  Hay," 


20  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

and  later  "wife  (or  widow)  of  David  Jochensen."  She 
seems  to  have  been  very  successful  in  her  marriages. 

In  1653  Jacob  Hay  purchased  from  Dirck  the  Norman 
the  Northern  part  of  Green  Point,  the  line  of  division 
running  from  the  river  at  the  north  end  of  Franklin  street, 
to  the  northeast  corner  of  St.  Anthony's  church  and  thence 
east  to  the  meadows  at  Oakland  street.  The  land  so  pur- 
chased was  inherited  in  1693  by  the  only  child  of  Christina 
Cappoens,  Maria  Hay,  who  had  in  1684  married  for  her 
second  husband  Pieter  Praa,  the  third  and  greatest  per- 
sonality in  the  settlement  of  Green  Point.  Captain  Pieter 
Praa  was  a  man  of  great  prominence  in  the  history  of  the 
Town  of  Bushwick.  He  easily  ranks  as  the  greatest  man 
from  its  earliest  days  to  the  time  of  its  merger  with  the 
City  of  Brooklyn  two  centuries  later.  Captain  Praa  was 
of  Huguenot  extraction  and  was  born  in  Leyden,  Holland, 
1655.  His  parents  were  from  Dieppe  in  France  on  the 
English  Channel.  Like  other  Huguenots  they  were  ex- 
pelled from  their  native  land  owing  to  religious  persecution. 
It  was  during  their  temporary  stay  in  Holland,  a  refuge 
to  the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  that  Pieter  was  born.  When 
he  was  five  years  old  his  parents  emigrated  to  the  new 
world  and  settled  first  in  Newtown  and  then  in  Bushwick 
near  the  intersection  of  Flushing  avenue  and  Broadway. 

After  his  marriage  to  Maria  Hay,  Captain  Praa  and  his 
wife  lived  in  a  stone  house  on  their  Green  Point  farm, 
which  was  located  on  the  meadow's  edge  at  Freeman 
street  just  east  of  Oakland  street.  This  house  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  1832.  His  history  is  another  evidence 
of  the  loss  to  France  that  came  as  a  result  of  the  expulsion 
of  the  Huguenots.  Pieter  Praa  was  not  only  captain  of 
militia  but  was  magistrate  as  well.  He  was  influential  in 
both  local  and  provincial  politics.  He  was  a  magnificent 
horseman  and  a  genuine  sportsman.  He  was  easily  the 
leader    in    public    aft^"airs    of    the    community.      He    added 


2^2  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

largely  to  his  original  land  possessions  and  purchased  from 
the  sons  of  Dirck  the  Norman  all  their  remaining  Green 
Point  land.  In  1687  he  bought  from  Anneke  Jan  Bogardus 
of  New  Amsterdam,  a  tract  of  about  130  acres  of  land  at 
the  mouth  of  Maspeth  kill.  This  tract,  known  as  Dominie's 
Hoek,  later  as  Hunter's  Point  and  Long  Island  City,  con- 
sisted of  two  or  three  low  hillocks  rising  out  of  a  sea  of 
encompassing  marshes  valuable  for  their  salt  ha}'  for  cattle. 
In  addition  to  the  above  Captain  Praa  owned  some  40,000 
acres  of  land  in  New  Jersey. 

Captain  Praa's  death  occurred  in  1740,  He  left  no  son 
to  perpetuate  his  name,  but  he  had  numerous  progeny 
through  his  four  daughters,  many  of  whom  have  played 
prominent  parts  in  business  and  politics  in  Green  Point 
and  in  larger  spheres  of  action.  These  four  daughters 
were  Elizabeth,  who  married  Jan  Meserole;  Maria,  who 
married  Wynant  Van  Zandt;  Christina,  who  married 
David  Provoost;  Annetti,  who  married  William  Bennett. 
At  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  War  (1775-1783)  there 
were  but  five  families  on  Green  Point,  all  of  them  lineal 
descendants  of  Pieter  Praa.  The  heads  of  these  families 
were  as  follows: 

1.  Abraham  Meserole  (son  of  Jan  Meserole)  and  grand- 
son of  Pieter  Praa,  who  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  East 
River,  between  what  are  now  India  and  Java  streets. 
Later  the  house  in  which  he  lived  was  occupied  by  Neziah 
Bliss,  whose  wife  was  a  granddaughter  of  the  above  named 
Abraham  Meserole.  This  house  was  demolished  about 
1875.  It  was  at  this  period  that  nearly  all  the  old  relics 
gave  place  to  the  necessities  of  modern  industrial 
developments. 

2.  Jacob  Meserole  (another  son  of  Jan  Meserole),  who 
resided  in  the  southerly  part  of  Green  Point,  near  Bush- 
wick  creek  meadows  (between  the  present  Manhattan 
avenue  and  Lorimer  street  near  Norman  avenue)   not  far 


CAPTAIN  PIETER  PRAA 


24  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

from  the  residence,  still  standing,  of  his  grandson,  the 
late  Adrian  Meserole.  His  farm  included  the  entire  southerly 
portion  of  Green  Point. 

3.  Jacob  Bennett  (son  of  William  Bennett,  whose  wife 
Annetti  was  a  daughter  of  Pieter  Praa),  who  dwelt  in  a 
house  in  the  northerly  portion  of  Green  Point,  near  the 
present  Clay  street,  midway  between  Franklin  street  and 
Manhattan  avenue.  His  farm  was  later  known  as  the 
"Griffin  Farm"  and  for  many  years  was  owned  by  the 
trustees  of  Union  College. 

4.  Jonathan  Provoost  (son  of  David  Provoost,  whose 
wife  Christina  was  a  daughter  of  Pieter  Praa),  who  lived 
on  the  east  side  of  Green  Point  in  a  stone  house  on  the 
edge  of  the  meadows,  formerly  the  residence  of  Pieter 
Praa.  Later  this  house  was  occupied  by  the  late  James 
W.  Valentine,  whose  wife  was  a  great-granddaughter  of 
the  above  named  Jonathan  Provoost.  The  old  Provoost 
burying  ground  near  the  northeast  corner  of  India  and 
Oakland  streets  was  removed  about  1875  and  no  trace  of 
it  remains. 

5.  Jacobus  Calyer  (whose  wife  Janitie  was  a  daughter 
of  Jan  Meserole  and  granddaughter  of  Pieter  Praa),  who 
occupied  the  house  referred  to  and  described  in  previous 
pages,  near  the  mouth  of  Bushwick  creek  and  built  by 
Dirck  the  Norman. 

These  five  families  at  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  constituting  the  entire  population  of  Green  Point, 
must  have  lived  quiet  lives,  cultivating  the  fertile  fields 
which  had  descended  to  them  from  their  ancestors. 
Each  farmer  had  his  own  large  boat  which  he  used  in  carry- 
ing his  surplus  farm  products  to  the  New  York  market. 
This  does  not  mean  that  the  East  River  was  crossed  in  a 
straight  line.  It  was  necessary  to  drop  down  the  river 
at  least  as  far  as  the  present  Brooklyn  bridge,  for  New 
York  in  those  days  did  not  extend  north  of  the  City  Hall. 


HISTORIC  GREEN   POINT 


The  homes  of  that  period  were  all  after  the  Dutch  style, 
one  and  a  half  stories  in  height,  the  lower  portion  of  stone, 
and  the  upper  usually  of  wood,  with  dormer  windows 
and  wide  overhang.  A  broad  hall  running  through  the 
middle  of  the  main  floor  was  lighted  in  the  day  time  either 
by  the  bull's  eye  glass  insets  in  the  upper  part  of  each 
door,  resembling  little  port  holes,  or  by  opening  the  upper 
portion  of  the  door.  Knockers  of  brass  or  iron  hung  on 
the  outside  of  the  door  to  announce  the  arrival  of  a  caller, 
and  a  great  flat  stone  helped  the  guest  to  step  over  the 
sill.  It  is  easy  to  believe  that  stone  step,  sill,  door,  and 
knocker  were  kept  in  immaculate  condition  by  these  Dutch 
descendants,  who  prized  personal  and  household  cleanliness 
and  almost  elevated  them  to  the  position  of  sacred  rites. 
It  requires  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  know  that 
these  Green  Pointers  had  a  rich  and  varied  larder.  Their 
orchards  gave  a  profusion  of  luscious  fruits.  The  fields 
yielded  in  abundance  all  the  then  known  vegetables  and 
cereals,  and  the  adjoining  creeks  teemed  with  pan  fish 
and  blue  crabs,  a  condition  that  existed  until  the  advent 
of  the  oil  refining  factories.  Their  refuse  drained  into 
the  creeks  killed  all  fish  life. 

In  these  early  days  the  houses  were  heated  by  great 
wide  open  fire  places  in  the  living  room.  This  was  the 
place  where  the  food  was  prepared  and  eaten  and  where 
the  family  in  the  evening  gathered  about  the  fire  place, 
warmed  themselves  at  the  great  log  fire,  and  discussed 
family,  social,  and  political  affairs.  The  casual  caller 
was  entertained  at  this  hospitable  fire  place.  Wood  was 
the  only  fuel  and  every  farm  had  its  wood  lot.  For  the 
fire  a  huge  back  log  w^as  rolled  into  place,  then  smaller 
logs  about  six  feet  in  length  would  be  piled  in  front  and  on 
top  of  the  back  log.  A  roaring  fire  could  easily  be  kept 
going  to  make  the  entire  house  comfortably  warm  except 
in  bitter  winter  w^eather. 


26  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

Each  house  had  its  outdoor  oven  in  which  the  busy 
housewife  could  easily  bake  a  dozen  loaves  of  bread  or 
as  many  pies  at  a  time.  The  vigorous  outdoor  life  was 
conducive  to  healthy  appetites,  but  these  Dutch  families 
were  all  good  providers.     Large  families  were  also  the  rule. 

This  sparsely  settled  section  gave  small  opportunity 
for  social  life.  The  farms  were  large  and  widely  separated 
and  the  church  and  store  a  great  distance  away.  The 
gallants  who  sued  for  the  favor  of  the  several  daughters 
of  Pieter  Praa  and  Maria  Hay  must  have  been  rowed  up 
and  across  the  East  River  by  their  slaves  in  order  to  do 
their  courting.  All  these  daughters  married  merchants 
or  professional  men  from  across  the  river. 

Prior  to  1824  nearly  all  Dutch  families  were  slave  holders. 
Pieter  Praa  was  the  owner  of  quite  a  number  and  in  his 
will  he  provided  that  each  slave  should  choose  among 
which  of  the  children  he  desired  to  serve.  To  his  body 
servant,  Jack,  was  given  by  terms  of  the  will  an  island, 
a  part  of  which  is  now  Long  Island  City  and  which  was 
known  for  more  than  a  century  later  as  "Jack's  Lsland." 
Although  not  a  large  island  it  was  sufficiently  large  for 
his  maintenance.  The  Dutch  enjoyed  a  reputation  of 
treating  their  slaves  with  consideration.  Although  the 
act  of  1824  freed  all  slaves  in  New  York  State,  these  black 
servants  continued  to  regard  themselves  as  members  of 
the  household  to  which  they  had  formerly  belonged.  Many 
of  these  slaves  had  been  brought  up  to  a  trade  and  there 
was  work  in  abundance  for  all. 

It  is  a  matter  of  general  history  that  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  Revolutionary  War  this  portion  of  Long  Island 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  British,  and  loyalty,  real  or 
assumed,  to  the  King  of  England  seemed  the  only  path 
of  safety  for  the  Green  Point  families  to  follow.  It  ap- 
pears, however,  that  Abraham  Meserole's  son,  John,  cared 
less  about  safety  than  did  his  neighbors,  for  he  came  under 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  '27 

suspicion  as  a  rebel  and  was  at  one  time  taken  prisoner 
and  confined  in  a  New  York  jail.  Tradition  reports  that 
all  the  families  suffered  severely  from  the  depredations 
of  the  British  soldiers  and  their  camp  followers. 

After  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  and  for  more 
than  a  third  of  the  succeeding  century,  Green  Point  main- 
tained its  seclusiveness.  The  dwellers  upon  the  well- 
ordered  farms  had  little  intercourse  with  the  outside  world. 
Row  boats  or  sail  boats  would,  when  necessary,  convey 
them  across  the  river.  On  Sundays,  on  horseback  or  in 
w^agons,  they  might  be  seen  taking  their  way  across  the 
neck  to  the  Bushwick  church.  Its  well  established  char- 
acter as  a  secluded  nook,  geographically  remote  and  not 
easily  accessible,  remained  until  about  1840.  In  fact  the 
history  of  the  place  up  to  this  date  is  largely  the  family 
chronicles  of  the  Meseroles,  Calyers,  Provoosts  and  Ben- 
netts, the  married  names  of  the  daughters  of  Pieter  Praa, 
Green  Point's  most  distinguished  early  citizen. 

We  have  traced  thus  far  the  first  two  centuries  of  the 
history  of  Green  Point,  an  agricultural  period,  from  1638, 
\vhen  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  purchased  from 
the  Indians  the  tract  of  land  that  later  became  the  Town 
of  Bushwick  (all  of  Brooklyn  lying  north  of  Broadway 
and  Division  avenue),  to  1838.  It  was  the  opening  of 
the  first  public  highway  in  1838  that  made  possible  the 
development  of  Green  Point  into  a  small  town.  This 
highway  ran  across  the  land  along  the  line  of  the  present 
Franklin  street,  with  bridges  over  Newtown  and  Bushwick 
creeks,  and  became  a  part  of  the  turnpike  running  from 
W'illiamsburgh  to  Astoria.  Green  Point  thus  lost  its  posi- 
tion of  splendid  isolation  and  became  connected  on  either 
side  with  the  greater  w^orld  beyond  its  borders.  During 
these  two  centuries  there  was  no  church,  no  school,  no 
store.  The  early  families  resorted  for  religious,  educa- 
tional,   and   political   affairs   to   Bushwick   village    (Metro- 


28  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

politan  and  Bushwick  avenues),  which  was  the  municipal 
center  of  the  Town  of  Bushwick,  of  which  Green  Point 
was  poHtically  a  part. 

The  time  had  now  come  when  the  land  that  had  been 
turned  by  a  plow  was  to  be  used  as  sites  for  homes  and 
factories.  The  high  sandy  bluffs  facing  the  river  were 
gradually  to  be  leveled.  The  rolhng  country  behind  the 
bluffs,  which  had  been  brought  up  to  a  high  state  of  cul- 
tivation by  skilled  farmers,  was  to  be  intersected  by  streets. 
The  fine  orchards  and  scattered  fruit  trees  along  the  fences 
between  the  fields  were  to  be  obliterated  and  linger  in  the 
memory  only  as  the  name  of  the  southeasterly  part  of 
Green  Point.  The  era  of  the  industrial  development  had 
dawned. 

Reference  has  been  made  in  a  previous  paragraph  to 
the  ship-building  industry  as  one  of  the  most  potent  factors 
in  the  development  of  Green  Point.  While  ship  building 
began  in  the  colonies  in  1607,  the  new  industry  appeared 
here  about  1840.  The  place  was  w^ell  adapted  for  this  new 
departure,  for  the  beaches  on  the  East  River  front  were 
of  fine  white  sand.  The  expanding  world  commerce  fol- 
lowing the  overthrow  of  the  Napoleonic  power  and  the 
expansion  of  American  commerce  created  a  demand  for 
strong,  swift,  and  easily  handled  ocean  carriers.  This 
demand  was  met  in  the  creation  of  the  historic  American 
clipper  ship,  long  reputed  the  best  and  fastest  in  the  world. 
Although  some  yards  launched  as  many  as  three  ships 
at  a  time,  it  was  impossible  to  create  a  suflBcient  supply. 
The  Yankee  crew  on  board  these  beautiful  vessels  with 
graceful  lines  did  much  to  gain  for  these  ships  an  enviable 
reputation.  As  every  man  on  board  from  the  captain  to 
the  cabin  boy  was  a  shareholder,  it  was  easy  to  develop 
and  maintain  a  fine  esprit  du  corps. 

The  appearance  of  the  East  River  beaches  must  have 
been    extremely    interesting,  not    to    say    fascinating.      On 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  21) 

the  wavs  were  vessels  in  various  stages  of  completion  in 
charge  of  great  gangs  of  shipwrights.  Mammoth  piles 
of  lumber  lay  about  waiting  for  use;  white  oak,  hackmatack 
and  locust  for  ribs,  yellow  pine  for  keelsons  and  ceiling 
timbers,  white  pine  for  floors,  and  live  oak  for  aprons. 
Through  the  air  was  wafted  the  odor  of  damp  pine  chips, 
of  pitch  and  of  oakum,  while  the  ceaseless  clatter  of  mallets 
and  busy  saws  gave  evidence  of  strenuous  industry.  The 
workers  came  in  large  numbers,  attracted  by  the  permanent 
character  of  the  work,  bringing  their  families  and  taking 
up  their  residence  here.  The  farm  stage  soon  passed  into 
the  village  stage  of  development,  then  into  town,  until 
on  January  i,  1855,  Green  Point  was  consolidated  with 
Bushwick  and  the  young  city  of  Williamsburgh  with  the 
older  city  of  Brooklyn.  At  that  time  there  were  in  the 
Seventeenth  ward  about  15,000  of  population,  but  this 
figure  was  increased  to  about  30,000  in  1875,  when  ship- 
building had  passed  its  zenith  of  growth. 

The  hard  labor  exacted  of  these  makers  of  ships  is  worth 
noting.  The  daily  grind  was  fatiguing  and  exhausting 
in  the  extreme.  Originally  the  day's  work  consisted  of 
fifteen  hours  at  the  rate  of  $1.25  per  day.  Later  through 
labor  organizations  a  ten-hour  day  was  secured  and  the 
wages  were  increased  by  gradual  steps  until  ^2.00  per 
day  was  the  rate.  Many  of  the  men  went  from  the  yards 
to  their  homes  only  to  eat  and,  exhausted  by  their  day's 
labor,  to  retire.  The  long,  hard  day^  the  exposure  to  the 
burning  heat  in  summer  and  the  biting  cold  in  winter, 
drained  the  vitality  of  the  workers  and  left  scant  oppor- 
tunity for  leisure  or  wholesome  recreation.  The  equipment 
of  the  yards  was  primitive.  The  sawing  was  done  by 
hand,  one  laborer  being  in  the  pit  with  face  covered  by  a 
veil  to  protect  him  from  the  sawdust,  and  one  above  work- 
ing with  a  two-man  saw.  There  were  no  cranes,  cables, 
or  powder  helps  such  as  are  seen  in  the  modern  yard,  only 


30  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

man-power  to  raise  the  heaviest  timbers  by  hand.  The 
following  apprentice's  indenture  throws  a  flood  of  light 
upon  the  working  conditions  of  that  day.  John  Englis 
later  became  one  of  the  great  ship  builders  of  Green 
Point. 

THIS  INDENTURE  WITNESSETH,  That  John 
Englis,  now  aged  sixteen  years,  nine  months  and  twenty- 
four  days,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  George  Bell,  his 
step-father,  hath  put  himself,  and  by  these  Presents  doth 
voluntarily  and  of  his  own  free  will  and  accord  put  him- 
self, apprentice  to  Stephen  Smith,  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  ship  carpenter,  to  learn  the  art,  trade  and  mystery 
of  a  ship  carpenter,  and  after  the  manner  of  an  apprentice 
to  serve  from  the  day  of  the  date  herefor,  for  and  during 
and  until  the  full  end  and  term  of  four  years  two  months 
and  seven  days  next  ensuing:  during  all  which  time  the 
said  apprentice  his  master  faithfully  shall  serve,  his  secrets 
keep,  his  lawful  commands  everywhere  readily  obey;  he 
shall  do  no  damage  to  his  said  master,  nor  see  it  done 
by  others  without  telling  or  giving  notice  thereof  to  his 
said  master:  he  shall  not  waste  his  said  master's  goods, 
nor  lend  them  unlawfully  to  any:  he  shall  not  contract 
matrimony  within  the  said  term:  at  cards,  dice  or  any 
unlawful  game  he  shall  not  play,  whereby  his  said  master 
may  have  damage  with  his  own  goods,  nor  with  the  goods 
of  others,  without  license  from  his  said  master,  he  shall 
neither  buy  nor  sell:  he  shall  not  absent  himself  day  or 
night  from  his  master's  service  without  his  leave;  not 
haunt  ale-houses,  taverns,  dance-houses,  or  play-houses; 
but  in  all  things  behave  himself  as  a  faithful  apprentice 
ought  to  do  during  said  term.  And  the  said  master  shall 
use  the  utmost  of  his  endeavors  to  teach,  or  cause  to  be 
taught  or  instructed,  the  said  apprentice  in  the  trade 
or  mystery  of  a  ship-carpenter,  and  the  said  master  shall 
pay  to  the  said  apprentice,  the  sum  of  Two  dollars  and 


32  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

fifty  cents  weekly,  for  each  and  every  week  he  shall  faith- 
fully serve  him  during  the  said  term.  And  also  shall  pay 
him,  the  said  apprentice,  the  sum  of  Forty  dollars  per  year, 
payable  quarterly  for  each  and  every  of  the  said  years, 
which  is  in  lieu  of  the  meat,  drink,  washing,  lodging,  clothing 
and  all  other  necessaries.  And  for  the  true  performance 
of  all  and  singular  the  covenants  and  agreements  afore- 
said, the  said  parties  bind  themselves  each  unto  the  other 
firmly  by  these  Presents. 

In  Witness  thereof  the  parties  to  the  Presents  have  here 
unto  set  their  hands  and  seals  the  loth  day  of  September, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  One  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twenty-five.  Stephen  Smith 

John  Englis 
George  Bell 

The  vital  importance  of  the  work  of  building  ships  to 
the  growth  of  the  place  is  seen  in  the  statement  that  for 
thirty  years  (i 840-1 870),  35%  of  the  population  were 
engaged  in  this  industry.  Among  the  many  master  builders 
who  at  various  times  had  their  yards  here  were:  Edwin 
Childs,  William  Boggs,  William  W.  Colyer,  Jonathan 
Easom,  E.  S.  Whitlock,  Thomas  A.  Seabury,  Robert  H. 
Snyder,  Henry  Steers,  Lupton  and  Co.,  Laurence  and 
Foulks,  whose  yard  was  at  the  foot  of  West  street;  W^ebb 
and  Bell,  whose  yard  was  located  at  Washington  (West) 
and  Green  streets;  Sneeden  and  Co.,  later  Sneeden  and 
Rowland,  and  finally  The  Continental  Iron  Works,  at 
West  and  Calyer  streets;  Jeremiah  Simonson,  John  Englis 
and  Son,  and  lastly  ''honest  old  Jabez  Williams,"  who  trans- 
ferred his  yard  about  1866  from  the  foot  of  Montgomery 
street.  New  York,  to  Green  Point.  He  was  later  succeeded 
by  his  son  Edward  F.  Williams,  who  after  the  organization 
of  the  Green  Point  Savings  Bank,  became  its  second 
president. 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  :VA 

By  1870  only  a  few  of  the  old  establishments  reniaineJ. 
Webb  and  Bell  and  John  Englis  and  Son  were  about  the 
only  ones  having  any  construction  work  on  the  ways  in 
that  year.  George  Bell  and  Eckford  Webb,  who  in  their 
day  built  many  ships,  clippers,  and  steamers  for  the  ocean, 
as  well  as  harbor  and  river  craft,  constructed  the  caissons 
for  the  foundations  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge.  The  Conti- 
nental Iron  Works,  however,  has  remained  continuously 
in  business  with  a  wonderful  record  for  construction.  The 
Englis  yards  also  hold  an  enviable  record,  for  in  their  long 
career  from  1838  to  191 1,  they  had  built  or  completed  the 
joiner  work  on  one  hundred  and  thirteen  steamships  or 
steamboats,  including  ''The  Grand  Republic,"  "Adiron- 
dack," "C.  W.  Morse,"  "Hendrick  Hudson,"  "Trojan," 
"Princeton,"  "Rensselaer,"  "Clermont,"  and  "Storm  King." 
The  decay  of  the  industry  was  caused  by  increased  costs 
of  lumber  and  copper,  labor  troubles,  the  steamboat  law 
of  1852,  and  last  but  by  no  means  the  least  cause,  the 
building  of  iron  vessels. 

There  is  one  historic  event  in  connection  with  the  chron- 
icles of  Green  Point  which  must  not  be  overlooked,  the 
building  of  Captain  John  Ericsson's  "Monitor,"  an  event 
that  revolutionized  naval  warfare.  Captain  Ericsson  born 
in  Sweden  in  1803,  a  deep  student  of  mechanics,  had  al- 
ready won  enduring  fame  as  the  builder  of  the  "Prince- 
ton," wherein  he  demonstrated  the  use  of  the  propeller. 
When  he  had  pleaded  in  vain  with  the  Washington  author- 
ities for  the  adoption  of  his  "Monitor"  plan,  two  distin- 
guished iron  masters  of  Troy,  Hon.  John  F.  Winslow  and 
his  partner,  Hon.  John  A.  Griswold,  came  to  the  rescue. 
At  their  own  financial  risk  they  undertook  the  construc- 
tion of  this  naval  experiment.  The  attitude  of  the  Wash- 
ington experts  concerning  the  proposed  new  fighting  craft 
is  seen  in  the  statement  of  one  of  them  who  observed: 
"It    resembles    nothing    in    the    heavens    above,    or    the 


84  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

earth  beneath,  or  the  waters  under  the  earth.  You  can 
take  it  home  and  worship  it  without  violating  any  command- 
ment." Despite  such  rebuffs  the  ''Monitor"  was  finally 
constructed  and  boomed  the  death  knell  of  wooden 
men-of-war. 

It  was  President  Lincoln  himself  who  saved  the  day  by 
the  judicious  exercise  of  his  great  powers  of  persuasion. 
From  the  interview  when  he  intervened,  came  the  govern- 
ment contract  for  the  building  of  the  "Monitor."  The 
cost  was  not  to  exceed  ^275,000  and  the  time  limit  was 
loi  days.  The  builders  were  obliged  to  guarantee  the 
success  of  the  experiment.  Winslow  and  Griswold  lacked 
the  facilities  at  Troy,  so  the  hull  was  built  by  Thomas  F. 
Rowland  and  launched  January  30,  1862,  in  exactly  loi 
days  from  the  date  of  the  contract.  The  later  history 
of  the  "Monitor"  is  the  history  of  the  United  States  and 
of  naval  warfare,  for  the  "cheese  box  on  a  raft"  on  the 
morning  of  March  9,  1862,  vanquished  the  "conquering 
Merrimac,"  destroyed  her  and  preserved  the  Union  navy 
from  destruction.  The  life  of  the  "Monitor"  was  as  brief 
as  it  was  adventurous,  for  she  foundered  off  cape  Hatteras 
on  the  night  of  December  20,  1862. 

The  coming  of  the  ship  building  industry  brought  to  an 
end  the  exclusive  character  of  the  place  and  the  sole  in- 
habitancy of  the  five  families  of  French  Huguenot  extrac- 
tion, the  descendants  of  Pieter  Praa.  Their  day  with  its 
Dutch  houses  and  wide-spreading  farms,  of  bountiful 
orchards,  and  leafy  woods,  of  Negro  slaves,  and  rustic 
existence  was  gone  beyond  recall.  The  new  era  brought 
with  it  many  native  born  Americans  as  well  as  a  liberal 
sprinkling  of  English,  Irish,  Scotch,  and  Scandinavian 
emigrants.  Houses  were  rapidly  built  to  accommodate 
these  newcomers  and  new  streets  were  laid  out.  There 
was  a  considerable  movement  of  population  from  the 
East  side  of  New  York  as  the  advantages  of  livinir  on  this 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  ,S5 

side  of  the  river  became  known.  House  builders  rec()<!;- 
nizing  their  opportunity  built  for  anticipated  profits  and 
on  speculation,  one  of  the  earliest  being  Mr.  John  Hillyer, 
a  mason  by  occupation.  Practically  all  of  the  houses 
were  frame  dwellings.  Land  was  cheap  then.  One  colored 
inhabitant  purchased  sixteen  lots  at  fifty  dollars  each 
and  built  him  a  house.  This  improvement  he  sold  in  1842 
for  $2,300,  and  the  house  became  Poppy  Smith's  tavern, 
an  inn  run  by  John  Smith  on  Franklin  street  near  Green, 
well  known  to  the  earlier  inhabitants. 

Communities  may  be  measured  by  various  standards; 
by  production,  by  consumption,  by  the  conservation  of 
capital.  Just  as  a  man  is  doomed  to  ultimate  failure 
who  habitually  spends  each  week  or  year  his  entire  income 
for  that  time,  so  a  community  which  fails  to  make  pro- 
vision for  the  inevitable  rainy  day  becomes  sooner  or  later 
a  group  of  impoverished  men  and  women.  It  is  evident 
that  Green  Point  has  its  fair  share  of  thrifty  and  prudent 
souls.  Their  philosophy  of  life  is  sound  at  heart,  and  the 
history  of  the  Green  Point  Savings  Bank  becomes  in  a 
large  measure  the  history  of  the  people  of  the  place  so  far 
as  earning  and  saving  capacities  are  concerned.  The 
inception  and  development  of  this  great  institution  make 
most  interesting  reading. 

The  development  and  growth  of  the  community  at  this 
time,  1868,  had  reached  a  pomt  where  it  was  felt  that 
there  was  a  real  need  for  a  Savings  Bank.  A  number  of 
the  prominent  citizens  perfected  an  organization  and 
made  application  to  the  State  Legislature  for  a  charter 
for  an  institution  to  be  known  as  the  Green  Point  Savings 
Bank. 

On  January  11,  1869,  the  Bank  opened  its  doors  for 
business.  The  good  judgment  of  the  incorporators  was 
proven  during  the  first  year  of  the  Bank's  existence  when 
deposits    aggregating    £135,000    were    accumulated.      The 


36  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

original  banking  rooms  of  the  institution  were  in  a  small 
two-story  frame  building  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Frank- 
lin and  Oak  streets. 

Mention  must  be  made  at  this  point  of  the  leading  citizen 
of  the  village,  Neziah  Bliss,  who  married  Mary  A.,  the 
daughter  of  John  A.  Meserole.  Mr.  Bliss  w^as  born  at 
Hebron,  Connecticut,  in  1790,  and  w^as  therefore  of  Yankee 
origin.  Circumstances  compelled  him  in  early  life  to  be 
self-supporting,  but  this  compulsion  developed  initiative 
and  willingness  to  meet  difficulties  and  assume  respon- 
sibility. He  was  largely  a  self-educated  man.  It  was 
about  1810  when  he  left  his  Connecticut  home  and  came 
to  New  York  City.  Here  he  became  intimate  with  Robert 
Fulton,  who  was  at  that  time  through  his  energy  and 
financial  resources  rapidly  making  steam  navigation  a 
possibility.  Mr.  Bliss  made  it  a  practice  wherever  he 
went  to  seek  the  acquaintance  of  men  of  affairs,  the  really 
great  men  who  have  visions,  and  later  through  energy 
and  resourcefulness  realize  their  dreams.  From  Fulton  he 
caught  an  enthusiasm  for  steam  navigation,  an  enthusiasm 
which  led  to  numerous  experiments  in  the  use  of  steam, 
and  which  culminated  in  the  manufacture  of  steam  engines 
and  steamboats  of  approved  model. 

In  181 1  with  Daniel  French  he  organized  a  company 
in  Philadelphia  and  built  a  steamboat.  In  1816  he  was 
in  Cincinnati,  and  becoming  acquainted  with  the  son  of 
General  (afterwards  President)  William  Henry  Harrison, 
and  with  the  Harrison  backing,  he  again  experimented 
in  steamboats  and  built  one  which  for  many  years  after 
sailed  the  Mississippi.  After  further  traveling,  adventure, 
and  investigation  into  the  vast  natural  resources  of  the 
West,  particularly  iron,  he  returned  to  New  York  in  1827, 
rich  in  knowledge  and  experience.  It  was  about  this  time 
that  he  capitalized  his  knowledge  of  iron  by  establishing 
the  Noveltv   Iron  Works  at  the  foot  of  East    12th  street. 


38  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

New  York  City.  This  concern  speedily  became  famous 
for  its  marine  engines,  and  most  of  the  steam  vessels  built 
in  Green  Point  had  the  Novelty  engine  installed. 

In  conjunction  with  the  then  famous  president  of  Union 
College,  Dr.  Eliphalet  Nott,  he  purchased  thirty  acres  of 
the  John  Meserole  farm  in  1832,  and  the  following  year 
they  purchased  what  was  known  as  the  Griffin  farm. 
After  these  purchases  and  his  marriage  to  Miss  Meserole, 
his  individual  enterprise  became  largely  the  history  of 
Green  Point,  and  he  became  known  as  Neziah  Bliss  of 
Green  Point. 

In  1834  ^he  whole  of  the  place  was  surveyed  at  his  ex- 
pense, and  laid  out  in  streets  and  lots,  the  lines  running 
so  as  properly  to  connect  with  the  adjoining  communities 
of  Williamsburgh,  Bushwick  and  Hunter's  Point.  In  1838, 
largely  at  his  own  expense,  he  built  a  foot  bridge  across 
Bushwick  creek  to  the  city  of  Williamsburgh.  In  1839  the 
Ravenswood,  Green  Point,  and  Hallett's  Cove  Turnpike, 
which  he  had  promoted,  was  opened  for  traffic,  and  fol- 
lowed the  line  of  the  present  Franklin  street. 

The  next  civic  problem  that  came  to  his  fertile  mind 
was  proper  ferry  accommodations  across  the  river.  As 
late  as  1850  all  crossings  had  been  by  means  of  skiffs. 
For  about  ten  years  prior  to  this  date  one  or  more  skiffs, 
manned  usually  by  their  owners,  maintained  a  service 
from  the  foot  of  East  loth  street,  landing  at  Green  Point 
wherever  it  best  suited  the  ferryman  or  wherever  the 
passenger  desired.  There  was  no  uniform  rate  of  ferriage. 
The  price  depended  on  the  weather,  the  generosity  of  the 
passenger,  or  the  greed  of  the  skipper.  As  a  rule,  however, 
the  rate  ran  from  10  cents  to  25  cents.  About  1850  Mr. 
Bliss  obtained  from  the  City  of  New  York  a  workable 
lease,  and  two  years  later  the  ferry  began  operations, 
first  from  the  foot  of  East  loth  street  and  then  of  East 
23rd  street  to  the  foot  of  Green  Point  avenue.     This  prop- 


NEZIAH  BLISS  OF  GREEN  POINT 


40  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

erty  was  soon  disposed  of,  being  purchased  by  Sheppard 
Knapp,  whose  family  retain  the  franchise  to  this  day. 

Stages  were  the  first  pubhc  conveyances,  a  Hne  running 
from  the  WilHamsburgh  ferries  (foot  of  Grand  street), 
through  FrankHn  street  to  Poppy  Smith's  tavern  near 
Green  street.  The  proprietor  and  driver  of  this  only  stage 
was  an  Englishman  named  New.  He  began  operations 
about  1850,  the  fare  at  first  being  25  cents;  but  later  a 
lower  fare  was  charged.  When  the  City  Railroad  Com- 
pany in  1855  ran  its  cars  through  Williamsburgh  to  the 
approach  to  the  bridge  which  Mr.  Bliss  had  erected  over 
Bushwick  creek,  he  succeeded  in  inducing  the  company 
by  patient  coaxing  to  extend  the  tracks  over  the  bridge 
and  along  Franklin  street.  He  thus  secured  for  the  place 
a  rapid  communication  with  all  parts  of  Brooklyn.  Inci- 
dently  Mr.  New's  stage  line  was  put  out  of  business. 

The  continued  growth  of  the  community  made  docking 
facilities  necessary,  so  David  Provost,  a  descendant  of 
Pieter  Praa,  built  the  first  private  dock  in  1845,  on  his 
own  property  at  the  foot  of  Freeman  street.  With  this 
valuable  dock  he  started  the  first  yard  for  the  sale  of  build- 
ing material,  and  this  business  was  continued  for  many 
years  after  by  his  son  John  C.  Provost.  The  federal  govern- 
ment had  built  a  dock  on  the  shore  about  where  Milton 
street  reaches  the  river,  and  a  house  on  it  to  store  green 
powder.  This  dock  was  constructed  by  the  government 
long  before  there  were  any  buildings  in  Green  Point  except 
the  farm  houses.  It  was  under  a  high  bluff  which  extended 
from  Java  street  to  the  south  and  ranged  in  height  from 
a  few  feet  to  over  one  hundred.  Part  of  this  hill  was  owned 
by  Archibald  K.  Meserole,  who  made  quite  a  snug  fortune 
by  selling  the  sand  from  it  to  New  York  builders.  The 
remainder  of  the  hill  was  utilized  in  filling  in  low  places 
and  extending  certain  parts  of  the  shore  into  the  river. 
The    powder    house    was    abandoned    by    the    government 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  41 

prior  to  1850,  but  the  old  buildina;  and  the  dock  remained 
for  many  years  after,  a  place  dear  to  the  hearts  and  glorious 
memories  of  the  men  of  to-day,  who  as  boys  learned  to 
swim  and  dive  from  this  pier.  Pottery  beach  was  also  a 
favorite  swimming  place. 

Early  in  1850  David  Swalm  opened  a  general  store  on 
the  west  side  of  Franklin  street  near  Green.  This  store 
performed  a  very  important  function  in  the  community 
of  that  day,  for  besides  its  regular  business  it  supplied 
much  of  the  social  life  of  the  neighborhood,  and  was  also 
a  center  of  political  and  literary  interest.  At  about  the 
same  time  Lucien  Brown,  who  married  Magdalen,  the 
daughter  of  Neziah  Bliss,  started  a  hardware  store  at  the 
corner  of  Franklin  street  and  Green  Point  avenue.  The 
pioneer  physician  and  druggist  was  Dr.  Isaac  K.  Snell, 
whose  store  was  on  Franklin  street  near  Java  street.  He 
settled  here  in  1847,  and  was  soon  followed  by  other  medi- 
cal men,  among  whom  were  Dr.  Job  Davis  and  Dr.  William 
Peer.  The  original  lawyers  of  the  little  village  were  Andrew 
J.  Provost,  the  son  of  David  Provost,  and  the  brothers 
Perry,  Chauncey  and  Timothy.  These  men  were  all  leaders 
in  the  early  political  and  educational  advancement  of 
the  town  and  county.  Dr.  William  Starr  was  the  first 
of  the  profession  of  dentistry  who  practiced  in  the  place. 
His  daughter  married  Mr.  George  W.  Payntar  of  the 
Corn  Exchange  Bank. 

But  Green  Point  has  other  jewels  in  her  queenly  crown 
which  she  can  proudly  display,  as  two  of  America's  fore- 
most artists,  George  Innis  and  Albert  Ralph  Blakelock, 
had  their  homes  here  at  one  time.  Innis  was  born  in  Newark, 
New  Jersey,  the  son  of  a  well-to-do  father,  a  descendant  of 
a  long  line  of  business  people.  While  his  genius  was  not 
confronted  with  the  deprivations  which  poverty  entails, 
he  had  his  problems  to  face  nevertheless.  His  father  was 
a  man  of  a  decidedly  practical  turn  of  mind,  shrewd  and, 


42  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

from  the  business  point  of  view,  very  successful.  George's 
task  was  to  convince  his  father  that  artists  are  really  use- 
ful members  of  the  community,  not  to  be  classed  with  the 
mentally  wayward  or  the  worthless.  When  Innis  came  to 
Green  Point  following  his  return  from  his  first  trip  to 
Europe,  Green  Point  was  a  quiet  spot  for  his  growing 
family,  convenient  to  his  studio  across  the  river.  It  was 
while  he  was  residing  here,  working  under  great  financial 
difficulties,  that  he  produced  some  of  his  most  important 
works,  paintings  which  have  since  sold  for  thousands  of 
dollars  and  which  he  would  have  been  glad  at  that  time 
to  sell  for  as  many  hundreds. 

Blakelock's  connection  with  Green  Point  is  much  more 
intimate.  Although  born  in  Greenwich  street.  New  York 
City,  in  1847,  the  son  of  a  physician,  he  married  his  wife 
here.  Miss  Cora  Bailey,  a  daughter  of  George  Bailey, 
who  resided  on  Milton  street  for  many  years.  In  her 
youth  Mrs.  Blakelock  was  a  strikingly  handsome  woman 
of  the  light  blonde  type,  while  her  husband  was  tall,  dark, 
and  also  handsome.  A  large  family  of  children  blessed 
their  union.  Little  can  be  said  of  Blakelock's  early  years 
and  education.  An  early  love  for  painting  and  a  passion- 
ate love  of  music  soon  revealed  themselves.  He  mastered 
his  profession  without  the  aid  of  instructors.  He  went 
directly  to  nature  in  order  to  wrest  from  her  by  laborious 
methods  her  well-kept  secrets.  During  all  his  life  he  was 
pressed  for  money,  but  he  had  a  faithful  and  loyal  supporter 
in  his  wife,  who  in  her  last  great  trial  of  devotion,  had  to 
dispose  of  every  picture  and  study  to  keep  the  wolt  from 
the  door.  I'he  dark  shadow  of  mental  trouble  hung  over 
him  like  a  pall  of  despair  and  the  recognition  of  his  un- 
questioned genius  came  too  late  to  avert  the  catastrophe. 
He  asked  the  world  for  bread  but  received  only  a  stone. 
Society  has  not  yet  learned  how  to  conserve  her  remark- 
able geniuses. 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  43 

We  turn  now  to  a  brighter  picture — that  of  education. 
The  pioneer  was  Mrs.  Masquerier,  who  collected  some 
twenty  or  thirty  children  into  her  home  and  taught  them. 
Her  unaided  efforts  were  soon  re-inforced  and  later  sup- 
planted by  the  public  school  system.  When  Martin  Kalb- 
fleisch  moved  to  Green  Point  from  Connecticut  in  1842, 
he  had  a  large  family  of  children,  and  the  existing  school 
facilities  did  not  meet  his  approval.  He  immediately 
attacked  the  school  problem,  with  all  the  energy  and 
resourcefulness  at  his  command,  and  saw  his  efforts  crowned 
with  joy  and  reward  in  the  erection  of  a  school  house  on 
Manhattan  avenue,  between  Java  and  Kent  streets.  The 
first  principal  of  this  school  was  Benjamin  R.  Davis,  who 
ministered  with  marked  success  to  the  educational  needs 
of  Green  Point  for  the  princely  (?)  salary  of  $500  per  year, 
upon  which  he  was  compelled  to  support  a  large  family. 
This  school  was  the  forerunner  of  P.  S.  No.  22.  The 
movement  thus  auspiciously  inaugurated  by  Mr.  Kalb- 
fleisch  was  consistently  follow^ed  up,  and  in  a  few  years 
four  excellently  equipped  school  buildings  furnished  edu- 
cational opportunities  for  the  oncoming  generation.  These 
schools  and  their  successors  to-day  are  among  the  best  of 
the  city. 

Considering  next  the  political  life  of  this  section,  we 
note  that  the  local  political  body  in  the  early  days  w^as 
the  Town  Board  of  Supervisors.  The  office  of  the  super- 
visor was  an  ancient  and  important  one  in  the  history 
of  the  colonies.  Before  the  establishment  of  the  federal 
government  the  supervisor  was  appointed  to  office  by 
the  Governor-General  of  the  Province  of  New  York.  With 
the  setting  up  of  the  independent  government  the  method 
of  selection  was  changed,  the  supervisor  being  elected  in 
each  town  by  viva  voce  vote,  until  the  act  of  February  13, 
1787,  when  the  method  of  voting  by  ballot  was  introduced. 
The  functions  of  the  supervisors  of  Kings  County  corres- 


44  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

ponded  quite  closely  to  those  of  the  present  Board  of  Alder- 
men. The  first  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors  after 
the  incorporation  of  the  old  city  of  Brooklyn  was  held  at 
the  Apprentices'  Library,  May  27,  1834. 

Up  to  this  time  and  for  a  long  period  John  Conselyea 
of  Bushwick  town,  of  which  Green  Point  was  a  part,  had 
represented  the  neighborhood  on  the  Board,  but  he  was 
succeeded  by  Nicholas  WyckofF,  and  in  turn  by  the  follow- 
ing: Abraham  D.  Soper,  Martin  R.  Meeker,  James  De 
Bevoise,  Charles  J.  De  Bevoise  and  Martin  Kalbfleisch. 
The  last  named  was  elected  as  a  democrat  in  185 1.  He 
always  engaged  actively  in  politics  and  remained  supervisor 
until  after  consolidation.  As  one  of  the  commissioners 
he  aided  m  drafting  the  charter  for  the  consolidated  cities 
of  Williamsburgh  and  Brooklyn  with  their  outlying  towns, 
including  Bushwick.  He  served  three  years  as  President 
of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  in  1861  was  elected  Mayor 
of  the  city. 

After  Green  Point  became  the  17th  ward  of  the  con- 
solidated city,  the  first  supervisor  was  H.  Bartlett  Fenton, 
who  was  succeeded  by  the  following:  George  W.  Kelsey, 
John  A.  Boutelle,  Thomas  C.  Dieks,  John  T.  Williams, 
the  son  of  Jabez  Williams  and  brother  of  Edward  F.  Wil- 
liams, the  second  president  of  the  Green  Point  Savings 
Bank  ;  Jonathan  Moore,  Stephen  Clark,  Joseph  Droll, 
Thomas  Devyr,  Herman  Cottrell,  Henry  Kiefer,  John  A. 
Connolly.  Clark  held  office  longer  than  any  other  super- 
visor, about  eight  years,  but  not  continuously. 

Practically  all  the  social  and  literary  activities  of  the 
people  were  centered  about  the  churches,  although  later 
the  Sewanhaka  Club  became  an  organization  for  the  pro- 
motion of  social  affairs.  Before  any  of  the  religious  denom- 
inations began  their  distinctive  organizations,  a  Sunday 
school  was  organized  and  met  in  the  basement  of  the  home 
of  Mr.  Clark  Tiebout  on  Franklin  street.     The  beginnings 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  45 

were  most  humble.  Mr.  William  \ernon  was  the  first 
superintendent.  The  school,  however,  soon  outgrew  its 
first  home,  and  in  1846  was  moved  to  the  loft  over  David 
Swalm's  general  store. 

The  first  church  organization  began  as  a  Methodist 
mission  shortly  before  1847,  in  a  small  one-story  building 
on  the  east  side  of  Franklin  street  near  Huron.  From 
this  sprang  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Green 
Point  on  Union  (Manhattan)  avenue,  between  India  and 
Java  streets,  organized  in  the  wmter  of  1847-8  by  the 
Rev.  Sylvester  H.  Clark  of  the  New  York  East  Confer- 
ence. The  society  had  been  projected  by  Benjamin  Down- 
ing and  Charles  Huff,  who  had  hired  the  office  of  Hopkins* 
livery  stable,  where  the  early  meetings  were  held.  The 
organization  of  the  church  was  quickly  followed  by  the 
purchase  of  the  site  and  the  erection  of  a  frame  building. 
In  1864,  during  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  John  Booth, 
about  half  the  membership  left  the  old  church  under  his 
leadership  and  organized  the  Green  Point  Tabernacle. 
The  building  now  occupied  by  this  church  was  completed 
in  1870.  The  property  was  then  valued  at  about  $80,000 
and  the  membership  was  300.  This  was  also  about  the 
memibership  of  the  parent  church,  so  that  in  1870  the 
Methodists  had  about  600  members.  In  1893,  w^hen  Prot- 
estantism was  at  its  high  water  mark,  these  two  churches 
had  a  combined  membership  of  about  1,100. 

In  1848  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  of 
Green  Point  was  established  by  a  committee  from  the 
North  Classis  of  Long  Island.  On  the  first  Sunday  in  May 
of  that  year  the  following  consistory  was  ordained:  David 
Swalm  and  William  P.  Guest  as  elders;  Isaac  K.  Snell, 
M.  D.,  deacon;  Dr.  James  P.  Gardner,  Ann  Gardner  his 
wife,  Mrs.  Margaret  Marshall,  Miss  Mary  P.  Marshall 
as  members.  Originally  this  society  had  its  meetings  in 
the  loft  over  David  Swalm's  store  on  Franklin  street,  and 


46  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

their  preachers  were  students  from  the  seminary  at  New 
Brunswick,  New  Jersey.  The  Rev.  John  W.  Ward  became 
the  first  regular  pastor  in  1849,  and  the  next  year  a  frame 
building  was  erected  on  Java  street  near  Franklin.  Later 
the  fine,  large  brick  church  on  Kent  street  was  built  and 
dedicated  January  30,  1870.  Dr.  George  Talmadge  was 
pastor  for  many  years,  but  the  longest  pastorate  was  that 
of  the  Rev.  Lewis  Francis. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Green  Point  at  Noble 
and  Lorimer  streets  was  organized  with  fourteen  members 
at  a  meeting  held  April  22,  1869,  at  Masonic  Hall,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Presbytery  of  Nassau.  Four  lots  were 
purchased  for  ^10,000,  on  which  was  erected  a  one-story 
frame  structure  with  a  seating  capacity  of  450,  at  a  cost 
of  $4,000.  This  original  house  of  worship  was  dedicated 
July  18,  1869,  with  the  following  officers:  deacon,  George 
Brinkerhoff;  elders,  John  N.  Stearns,  David  Joline;  trustees, 
D.  H.  Furbish,  Henry  Dixon,  David  Joline,  George  Camp- 
bell and  John  N.  Stearns.  The  present  brick  structure 
was  erected  in  1873  and  Dr.  William  Howell  Taylor  served 
the  society  for  several  years  as  its  first  pastor. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  the  Lutheran  Church, 
the  Baptist,  the  Primitive  Methodist,  the  Christian  Church, 
the  Church  of  Christ,  the  Universalist,  and  the  Reformed 
Episcopal  Church  soon  after  were  established  and  minis- 
tered to  the  social  and  religious  needs  of  the  Protestant 
portion  of  the  community. 

For  the  Catholic  inhabitants  the  parish  of  St.  Antony  of 
Padua  was  established  about  the  year  1856,  the  first  church, 
a  brick  structure,  being  located  on  India  street  east  of  Man- 
hattan avenue.  The  Rev.  John  Brady,  respected  by  every- 
one and  dearly  beloved  by  all  his  parishioners  for  his  generous 
heart  and  sweetness  of  disposition,  became  its  first  pastor. 
The  present  church  on  Manhattan  avenue  at  the  head  of 
Milton    street,  the    largest   and    most   pretentious    church 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 


edifice  in  this  section  of  our  city,  was  dedicated  June 
lo,  1874. 

The  center  of  business  activity  having  shifted  from 
FrankHn  street  to  Manhattan  avenue  in  1882,  the  Bank 
moved  to  new  quarters  at  339  Manhattan  avenue  between 
Milton  street  and  Green  Point  avenue,  where  it  remained 
until  December,  1885.  At  this  time  it  was  compelled  to 
move  again  on  account  of  a  fire  which  destroyed  the  bank 
and  two  adjoining  buildings.  A  temporary  banking  room 
was  hurriedly  fitted  up  at  127  Green  Point  avenue  and 
business  was  continued  there  until  1887. 

In  the  meantime,  the  property  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  Manhattan  avenue  and  Noble  street,  then  occupied 
by  John  Winter,  druggist,  had  been  purchased.  In  August, 
1887,  after  extensive  alterations  had  been  made  to  this 
property,  including  installation  of  vault,  modern  banking 
equipment  and  trustees'  room,  the  bank  moved  into  a  new 
home  which  it  was  to  occupy  for  twenty-one  years.  Dur- 
ing this  period  the  bank's  deposits  were  increased  four 
million  dollars. 

It  is  impossible  to  write  any  account  of  the  develop- 
ment of  Green  Point  without  paying  considerable  attention 
to  industries.  In  its  history  it  has  followed  the  same  line 
of  growth  and  change  as  all  other  communities  similarly 
located  and  aflTected  by  the  changing  currents  of  occu- 
pations and  inhabitants.  The  growth  of  the  means  of 
conveyance,  and  ready  access  to  the  great  city  across 
the  river,  guaranteed  the  future,  but  the  coming  on  a  large 
scale  of  commerce  and  industry  determined  definitely  the 
character  of  the  place.  By  i860  the  Five  Black  Arts, 
so  called.  Printing,  Pottery,  Gas,  Glass,  and  Iron,  were 
firmly  established.  The  earlier  industries  remained  only 
as  long  as  they  were  imperatively  needed  for  the  life  of 
the  people  and  then  they  were  supplanted  by  other  forms 
of  activity.     The  farmer  gave  place  to  the  shipwright  and 


48  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

he  in  turn  to  the  factory  worker.  Shipbuilding  went  to 
the  Pacific  coast  or  to  the  coast  of  Maine,  where  raw  ma- 
terials from  the  forests  could  be  had  in  abundance  at  the 
water's  edge  and  labor  was  cheaper  and  not  so  well  organ- 
ized. New  avenues  to  wealth  were  opened  as  a  result  of 
the  industrial  invasion.  Real  estate  values  rose  rapidly. 
The  employer  of  a  hundred  hands  with  a  small  margin 
of  profit  from  the  daily  labor  of  each  worker  could  progress 
financially  much  more  rapidly  than  the  farmer  who  had 
only  a  few  men  under  him. 

In  December  of  the  year  1868,  a  newspaper  in  a  neigh- 
boring community,  wrote  as  follows  of  the  Green  Point 
of  that  day:  "Within  the  last  two  or  three  years  man- 
ufacturing interests  of  considerable  magnitude  have  sprung 
up  in  this  suburban  locality,  and  several  large  and  sub- 
stantial buildings  for  manufacturing  are  now  in  the  course 
of  completion.  Some  of  these  employ  several  hundred 
hands,  thus  enabling  many  to  avail  themselves  of  their 
labor,  their  sole  capital,  in  providing  the  comforts  of  a 
home  and  means  of  contentment.'* 

*'The  large  accession  of  productive  industry,  and  the 
superior  facilities  for  carrying  on  business  in  this  favored 
locality,  have  naturally  rapidly  increased  the  population 
of  the  Ward,  and  a  still  further  demand  for  houses  and 
homes  is  the  result.  But  the  enterprise  of  our  citizens  is 
equal  to  the  emergency,  and  from  seventy-five  to  one 
hundred  houses  are  now  being  constructed  and  will  be 
ready  for  occupancy  when  the  early  spring  returns.  It 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  so  many  seek  this  section. 
Its  natural  advantages  and  attractions  account  for  it, 
its  churches  and  public  schools,  commodious  and  con- 
venient, with  cheaper  rents,  better  air,  and  plenty  of  Ridge- 
wood  water.  It  has  two  railroads  and  two  ferries  to  facil- 
itate travel;  a  discount  and  a  savings  bank  (the  Green 
Point   Savings   Bank   had   been   chartered   at  the   last   ses- 


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50  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

sion  of  the  legislature),  for  the  accommodation  and  se- 
curity of  all  their  money  transactions." 

Among  the  pioneer  manufacturers  was  Martin  Kalb- 
fleisch.  This  captain  of  industry,  to  whom  frequent  ref- 
erences have  been  made  in  previous  pages,  was  born  in 
Holland,  and  came  to  America  in  1826,  when  he  was  twenty- 
two  years  of  age.  After  trying  several  localities  in  and 
about  New  York  he  finally  settled  in  our  section  in  1842, 
and  built  a  plant  for  the  manufacture  of  acids  and  other 
chemicals.  About  1850  he  removed  his  business  to  Bush- 
wick  and  erected  a  large  plant  on  the  Jamaica  turnpike 
near  Master's  toll-gate,  and  his  Green  Point  factory  was 
taken  over  and  used  by  William  Boch  and  Sons. 

One  of  the  earliest  arts,  reaching  back  into  the  twilight 
of  history  and  almost  contemporaneous  with  man  himself, 
is  that  of  the  potter.  Green  Point,  like  Grecian  Athens, 
was  at  one  time  celebrated  for  her  potters,  but  this  par- 
ticular glory  has  passed  to  other  ceramic  centers.  It  is 
still  an  open  question  whether  the  first  purely  American 
porcelain  was  made  by  Charles  Cartlidge  at  Green  Point, 
but  it  is  certain  that  as  early  as  1848  he  had  established  a 
pottery  on  what  was  long  known  as  Pottery  hill  just  to  the 
east  of  Pottery  beach.  He  turned  out  china  door  furnish- 
ings and  china  buttons,  and  then  a  little  later  fine  table- 
ware, at  first  done  in  bone  china  and  then  in  hard  porcelain. 
Many  famous  craftsmen  of  superior  ability  were  in  his  em- 
ploy in  the  decorative  department.  Frank  Lockett  and 
Elijah  Tattler  were  employed  as  painters.  Mr.  Tattler 
afterwards  founded  the  Tattler  Decoration  Company  of 
Trenton,  New  Jersey,  one  of  the  great  pottery  centers  of 
this  country.  Mr.  Josiah  Jones,  his  modeler,  was  a  man 
of  pronounced  genius,  whose  beautiful  creations  were  pro- 
duced in  both  Parian  and  Jasper  ware.  While  at  Green 
Point  he  executed  a  number  of  busts  and  bas-reliefs  of 
such   famous  Americans   as  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  Daniel 


TEMPORARY  QUARTERS  AT  \2J  GREEN  POINT  AVENUE 


52  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

Webster,  Zachary  Taylor  and   Henry   Clay  in  fine   brooch 
medailions. 

In  1855  this  firm  dissolved  and  reorganized  as  the  Amer- 
ican Porcelain  Manufacturing  Company,  but  no  success 
was  attained  and  the  works  were  closed  the  following  year. 
Thus  expired  the  most  promising  pottery  venture  in  America 
up  to  that  time.  Failure  was  due  to  operating  along  the 
lines  of  mediaeval  times  and  the  output  did  not  meet  a  pop- 
ular demand.  The  day  of  the  artist-artisan  had  passed  and 
workmen  producing  on  a  large  scale  at  low  cost  had  arrived. 

About  1850  William  Boch  and  his  four  sons,  Anthony, 
William,  Nicholas,  and  Victor,  all  famous  craftsmen,  came 
to  Green  Point  and  started  several  potteries.  Knowing 
more  of  the  artistic  than  of  the  business  side  of  the  venture 
they  did  not  succeed  in  holding  their  properties.  Two 
of  them,  the  Union  Porcelain  Works  and  the  Empire  China 
Works,  are  still  in  existence.  Thomas  C.  Smith,  a  New 
York  architect,  joined  them  in  1867,  when  they  were  oper- 
ating ;in  the  old  Martin  Kalbfleisch  factory  on  Oakland 
street,  and  he  eventually  succeeded  them  and  organized 
the  Union  Porcelain  Works,  a  successful  enterprise  as 
long  as  he  lived.  Bone  china  was  made  until  1863,  when 
it  was  replaced  by  a  purely  kaolinic  body  in  1865.  Mr. 
Karl  Muller,  a  famous  modeler,  accomplished  some  am- 
bitious work  at  this  pottery,  among  his  masterpieces  being 
the  Century  and  Keramos  vases.  In  those  days  Mr.  Smith, 
in  the  face  of  tremendous  difficulties,  produced  a  very 
good  china  body,  and  the  firm  was  for  a  considerable  period 
of  time  the  only  one  to  make  a  pure  porcelain.  Here  at 
one  time  was  one  of  the  most  thriving  industries,  a  pottery 
teeming  with  workers  about  the  rotating  wheels,  turning 
out  wares  by  the  thousands  of  pieces  and  supplying  an 
ever  increasing  demand. 

Glass   has   played   an   important   part   in   the   history  of 
civilization,  aiding  man  in  the  production  of  objects  useful 


BANK  AT  MANHATTAN  AVENUE  AND  NOBLE   STREET 


54  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

and  artistic.  Green  Point  has  done  its  full  share  of  work 
in  producing  glass.  In  the  late  fifties,  Mr.  Christian  Dorf- 
linger,  whose  name  has  always  been  associated  in  America 
with  artistic  cut-glass,  and  who  had  established  in  1854  a 
large  cut-glass  works  on  Plymouth  street,  Brooklyn,  came 
to  Green  Point  and  purchased  the  property  now  owned 
by  the  Gleason-Tiebout  Company  on  Commercial  street 
from  Union  College,  and  built  a  factory  for  the  manufacture 
of  lamp  chimneys.  The  discovery  and  use  of  the  petroleum 
product,  kerosene,  had  created  a  demand  for  this  kind  of 
glassware.  Mr.  William  F.  Dorflinger  relates  that  when 
his  father  erected  this  factory  there  were  no  houses  in  the 
vicinity,  so  his  father  was  compelled  to  erect  the  building 
now  used  by  the  Gleason-Tiebout  Company  as  offices, 
as  tenements  for  his  working  people.  The  old  chimney  of 
the  factory  is  still  standing  in  the  rear  of  these  buildings, 
a  grim  reminder  of  earlier  days  before  the  creek  was  filled 
in,  for  the  building  stood  on  the  water's  edge.  Mr.  Dorf- 
linger the  younger  recalls  the  time  when  as  a  boy  he 
would  dive  out  the  back  door  and  go  swimming  in  what 
was  then  crystal  clear  water. 

In  1865  Mr.  Christian  Dorflinger,  having  an  ample 
fortune,  retired  from  business  to  his  farm  in  Pennsylvania. 
The  Green  Point  factory  was  sold  to  Bailey  and  Dobel- 
mann,  former  employees.  The  new  firm  made  money  at 
the  start,  but  subsequently  failed.  The  property  was 
then  leased  to  J.  W.  Siebel  and  then  to  the  E.  P.  Gleason 
Company,  and  finally  the  present  owners,  the  Gleason- 
Tiebout  Company,  purchased  the  plant.  Mr.  Marshall  W. 
Gleason  and  Mr.  R.  T.  Cordeau  of  this  firm,  developed  in 
America  the  art  of  etching  glassware  for  lighting  fixtures, 
and  they  hold  the  only  patents.  With  every  advance  in 
electric  lighting  they  have  kept  steady  pace;  for  every 
new  variety  of  lamp  they  have  produced  the  proper  illu- 
minating glassware. 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  ,)o 

The  earliest  settlers  of  Green  Point  were  their  own 
lumbermen.  Dirck  Volckertsen  and  Pieter  Praa,  aided 
by  slave  labor,  felled  the  trees,  hewed  the  timbers  and 
planks,  and  fashioned  them  into  boards,  beams,  and  studs 
with  which  they  built  their  Dutch  homesteads.  The 
land  was  well  covered  with  trees,  with  an  abundance  of 
conifers,  scarlet  oak,  chestnut,  and  yellow  birch.  The 
Dutch  settlers  were  more  proficient  in  the  sawing  and  pre- 
paring of  timber  than  were  the  English. 

With  the  appearance  of  the  ship  yards,  and  the  demand 
for  workmen's  houses,  came  lumber  yards  and  dealers  in 
building  material.  Some  of  these  yards  still  survive,  but 
most  of  them  have  disappeared.  The  first  timber  dealers 
were  probably  William  Smith  and  Son,  who  in  1850  and 
for  years  after  had  their  yard  at  the  foot  of  Kent  street, 
then  J.  W.  and  T.  D.  Jones  at  W^est  and  Kent  streets, 
John  C.  Orr  and  Company,  at  one  time  Orr  and  Rowland, 
at  the  foot  of  India  street,  and  George  H.  Stone  at  Noble 
and  Franklin  streets.  Roswell  Eldridge  at  his  yard  also 
manufactured  tree  nails  from  locust,  used  in  the  early  days 
in  all  the  ship  yards.  Mr.  E.  C.  Smith  came  about  1870 
and  established  his  yard  and  box  factory.  Later  James 
D.  Leary's  yard  was  opened  at  Eagle  and  Provost  streets. 

In  1888  the  Leary  firm  financed  the  building  of  the 
famous  Joggins  raft,  which  arrived  safely  in  New  York 
after  a  trip  of  over  seven  hundred  miles  from  Nova  Scotia 
on  August  II.  Eleven  days  were  spent  on  this  anxious 
voyage.  For  more  than  fifty  years  before  this  date  lumber 
transportation  by  raft  had  been  tried  both  on  the  Pacific 
coast  and  in  the  East,  but  every  attempt  had  ended  in 
failure.  Mr.  Leary  himself  had  experienced  two  failures, 
before  the  great  cigar  raft  was  successfully  launched  and 
towed  the  long  distance  into  New  York  harbor.  The 
dimensions  were  595  feet  in  length,  with  a  girth  for  over 
100   feet  of  150  feet   and   a   depth  of  38   feet.     The  great 


56  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

mass  of  logs  was  bound  together  by  iron  chains  and  steel 
wire  and  was  almost  as  compact  and  solid  as  though  it 
were  the  trunk  of  some  giant  tree. 

It  is  only  some  sixty  years  ago  when  the  world  was  in 
the  candle  period  of  illumination  so  far  as  the  vast  masses 
of  the  people  were  concerned.  No  better  measurement 
of  the  swift  advances  of  the  last  century  can  be  found 
than  the  rapid  changes  in  artificial  illumination.  So  rapid 
was  the  advance  that  certain  remote  parts  of  the  world 
leaped  at  contact  with  civilization  from  the  primitive 
torch  to  the  electric  lamp.  For  others  living  in  civilized 
communities  the  transition  was  more  gradual  from  the 
tallow  candle,  the  spluttering  sperm  oil  lamp,  the  kerosene 
lamp,  and  the  gas  light  to  the  brilliant  electric  light.  In 
1859  Edwin  L.  Drake,  financially  backed  by  promoters^ 
successfully  sank  the  first  oil  well  at  Titusville,  Pa.,  and 
solved  the  petroleum  problem.  The  enormous  supplies 
of  crude  petroleum  never  had  any  great  industrial  value 
however,  until  a  method  of  purification  was  found  and 
developed  and  large  refineries  were  established.  As  the 
city  of  New  York  was  the  first  great  market  for  both  crude 
and  refined  oil,  and  as  it  has  always  been  one  of  the  strategic 
locations  commercially  considered,  it  rapidly  became  the 
locality  of  a  number  of  large  and  important  refineries. 

The  refinery  of  Charles  Pratt  and  Company  on  the 
river  front  at  Bushwick  creek,  while  within  the  geographical 
limits  of  Williamsburgh,  nevertheless  really  belongs  to 
this  section.  This  famous  refinery  was  established  about 
1867  and  was  remarkably  successful.  Astral  oil,  one  of 
its  chief  products,  became  known  as  the  safest  and  best 
of  the  kerosenes,  and  the  demand  oftentimes  outran  the 
supply.  Mr.  Pratt  employed  Green  Point  mechanics,  and 
this  great  plant  has  always  been  an  important  economic 
factor  since  its  inception  in  the  welfare  of  this  section. 
The  founder  of  this  refinery  and  his  family  after  him  have. 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  57 

with  modest  and  unassuming  liberality,  been  consistent 
contributors  to  the  social  work  of  this  community.  Thirty 
years  ago  Mr.  Pratt  built  the  Astral  Apartments  with 
the  purpose  of  affording  his  working  people  better  living 
conditions.  It  remains  a  monument  to  his  kind-heartedness 
and  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  employees. 

Our  country  has  been  abundantly  blessed  in  vast  natural 
resources,  the  raw  material  from  which  has  been  builded 
a  strong  and  wealthy  civilization.  Among  these  resources 
none  has  been  more  useful,  nor  more  potent  as  a  factor 
than  has  iron.  Its  discovery  and  use  have  made  the  nation 
industrially  independent  and  greatly  increased  the  national 
wealth.  Great  mines  have  been  opened  and  great  manu- 
facturing centers  established.  Our  annual  output  of  pig 
iron  from  our  modern  blast  furnaces  exceeds  in  value 
any  other  manufactured  product.  The  sensational  and 
dramatic  development  of  the  steel  and  iron  industry  in 
America  bounded  by  the  space  of  fifty  years  was  so  broad 
in  its  sweep,  that  in  the  early  days  of  industrial  Green 
Point  this  community  participated  in  a  large  way  in  the 
progress  and  resultant  wealth  accruing  therefrom. 

Among  the  foundries  which  from  time  to  time  have 
flourished  here  were  Braid  Brothers,  H.  C.  Harney  and 
Company,  Burr  and  Houston,  and  later  Taylor  and  Com- 
pany. All  these  were  jobbing  foundries,  specializing  in 
machinery  castings,  and  at  least  two  of  them  manufactured 
piano  plates.  The  architectural  branch  of  the  iron  industry 
was  represented  by  such  firms  as  Cheney  and  Hewlett, 
Smith  and  O.  Rourke,  and  Henry  C.  Fisher.  Mr.  Farrel 
Logan  manufactured  steam,  boilers  and  also  constructed 
the  great  gas  tanks  which  here  and  there  may  be  seen 
throughout  the  city.  Ball  and  Jewell's  machine  shop 
has  been  continuously  in  business  on  Franklin  street  for 
over  half  a  century. 

Another  ancient  craft,  rope  making,  has  long  been  estab- 


58  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

lished  here.  The  two  cordage  plants,  the  American  Man- 
ufacturing Company,  and  the  Chelsea  Fibre  Mills,  are 
among  the  largest  in  the  world,  and  at  present  are  em- 
ploying more  labor  than  any  other  single  industry  in  Green 
Point. 

Among  other  manufacturing  concerns  of  long  ago 
that  of  Burr  and  Company  may  be  mentioned.  In  1858 
their  factory  was  established  at  the  junction  of  West 
and  Eagle  streets,  for  the  making  of  tackle  blocks  to 
supply  local  ship  fitters,  the  general  trade,  and  the 
United  States  Government. 

It  is  said  of  that  great  manufacturing  center  of  England, 
Birmingham,  that  it  turns  out  anything  from  a  pen  point 
to  an  anchor.  In  variety  of  product,  in  the  quantities 
it  turns  out.  Green  Point  can  truly  be  said  to  be  an  Amer- 
ican Birmingham.  The  raw  materials  are  drawn  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  and  their  manufacture  provides  em- 
ployment for  our  people  and  supplies  for  our  ever  hungry 
machines.  Our  products  go  to  all  quarters  of  the  habitable 
globe.  A  traveler  a  few  years  since,  visiting  a  synagogue 
in  Jerusalem,  observed  that  the  lamp  ever  kept  burning 
in  that  sacred  place  was  filled  from  a  five  gallon  case  marked 
"Pratt's  Astral  Oil."  In  the  earlier  days  our  sturdy  Green 
Pointers  built  ships,  our  spar-makers  hewed  and  smoothed 
the  masts  and  spars,  our  chandlers  fitted  the  canvas  and 
supplied  the  craft  for  the  ocean  voyage,  and  these  ships 
returning,  brought  to  us  from  distant  lands  and  the  islands 
of  the  sea  a  great  variety  of  wealth.  To-day  over  fifteen 
thousand  hands  are  employed  in  our  factories  and  in  sup- 
plying human  wants  produce  untold  wealth.  These  fac- 
tories are  scattered  about  the  outskirts  of  the  dwelling 
center,  mostly  along  the  water  front,  some  very  large, 
with  thousands  of  hands  on  their  pay  rolls,  many  of  smaller 
size,  but  producing  a  vast  variety  of  the  goods  of  com- 
merce from  dolls  to  gas  tanks. 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  .5!) 

The  advent  of  these  manufacturing  estabhshments 
brought  in  its  train  a  change  in  the  character  of  the  nation- 
alities of  our  people.  Until  about  1880  the  settlers  were 
of  Anglo-Saxon,  Dutch  and  French  extraction;  but  these 
were  then  rapidly  supplanted  by  different  sorts  of  laborers 
from  the  southern  and  eastern  countries  of  Europe,  who 
brought  with  them  strength  and  hope,  but  at  the  same 
time  made  a  new  and  serious  social  problem.  Churches 
for  the  Russian,  the  Slovak,  the  Hungarian,  and  the  Pole 
were  soon  dedicated.  The  vast  problem  of  the  Ameri- 
canization of  these  peoples  remained  untouched.  The 
native  Green  Pointers  have  done  little  or  nothing  to 
remedy  this  unfortunate  condition,  one  that  is  duplicated 
many  times  over  in  manufacturing  centers  the  country 
over.  Our  manufacturers  must  learn  the  lesson  that 
something  besides  profits  must  be  considered,  that  the 
turning  of  these  foreigners  into  liberty-loving,  intelligent 
citizens  is  in  part  their  duty,  that  compulsory  education 
for  adults  is  as  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  republic 
as  for  their  children,  and  that  clever  social  propagandists 
always  find  it  easy  to  sow  destructive  seeds  among  an 
ignorant  and  unassimilated  people.  The  corner  stone  of 
a  democracy  is  education,  not  for  a  few  but  for  all,  not 
for  children  onl}^  but  for  parents  as  well.  Instruction  in 
our  social,  industrial,  and  political  ideals  in  order  that 
knowledge  of  these  may  be  created,  is  imperative.  The 
war  is  domg  much  to  unify  us  as  a  people,  but  the  par- 
tial result  gained  in  this  manner  must  be  supplemented 
by  courses  of  instruction  for  foreign  born  adults.  National 
recognition  and  national  aid  should  help  in  the  proper 
solution  of  this  serious  and  pressing  problem.  Under- 
standing is  needed  by  both  these  newcomers  of  our 
national  ideals  and  by  the  native-born  Americans  of  the 
lately  arrived.  The  Americanization  League  of  the  Green 
Point    Neighborhood    Association    and     the    Green    Point 


60  HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  have  put  forth  some  needed  efforts  with 
EngHsh  classes  and  talks  to  men  on  health  and  civics. 
These  efforts  have  been  comparatively  feeble  however, 
because  of  lack  of  popular  support. 

The  northern  end  of  Green  Point  is  largely  a  foreign 
city,  over  80%  of  the  inhabitants  being  of  foreign  parentage 
and  40%  of  foreign  birth.  Over  one  half  of  this  population 
is  Polish  and  Russian.  In  this  section  the  greatest  illiteracy 
prevails,  ii^%.  At  the  present  time  the  percentage  of 
illiteracy  is  higher  than  that  of  any  other  section  of  the 
city.  While  the  moral  conditions  and  observance  of  the 
law  are  as  good  as  in  other  portions  of  the  borough,  the 
infant  mortality  rate  has  been  slightly  higher  than  in 
other  sections.  Here  is  another  loud  call  for  civic  better- 
ment to  those  who  have  been  negligent  in  the  past  of  their 
opportunities  and  obligations. 

The  past  is  glorious  with  a  most  creditable  record  of 
growth  and  achievement.  The  present  has  its  manifold 
duties  in  converting  the  former  citizens  of  monarchies 
into  devoted  loyal  citizens  of  the  greatest  democracy  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  The  future  is  irradiated  by  the  rain- 
bow promise  of  future  progress,  of  larger  liberty,  of  richer 
well-being.  As  Green  Point  has  played  no  mean  part 
in  our  national  drama,  so  in  the  future  it  is  to  be  expected 
that  in  all  things  American  she  will  stand  in  the  front 
rank. 

Returning  to  the  latest  period  in  the  history  of  the 
Bank,  we  find  that  the  steady  growth  had  been  such  that 
it  was  felt  provision  must  be  made  to  handle  adequately 
the  present  business  and  particularly  to  prepare  for  the 
future  development  of  the  institution.  It  was  decided 
to  erect  a  building  of  a  size  and  type  which  would  reflect 
the  strength  and  dignity  of  the  Bank,  and  which  would 
be  devoted  solely  to  the  Bank's  business. 

With  this  object  in  mind  the  trustees  purchased  property 


HISTORIC  GREEN  POINT  Gl 

located  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Manhattan  avenue 
and  Calyer  street  in  1905.  Building  operations  were 
delayed  until  one  and  one-half  years  had  elapsed  because 
of  some  unmatured  leases  on  the  property.  Work  was 
begun  finally  in  May,  1907,  by  the  John  Pierce  Company, 
builders,  after  plans  drawn  by  Helme  and  Huberty,  ar- 
chitects. The  new  building  was  opened  for  business  on 
November  12,  1908.  It  represents  an  outlay  of  ^170,000, 
and  in  its  simplicity  and  permanency  of  construction 
exemplifies  the  reputation  of  the  Bank  in  the  community 
for  conservatism,  for  strength,  and  for  service.  To-day, 
ten  years  after  coming  to  its  new  building,  the  deposits 
have  grown  to  approximately  $11,000,000. 

If  that  early  and  great  citizen,  Pieter  Praa,  who  knew 
Green  Point  as  a  quiet  settlement  with  only  a  farmhouse 
here  and  there  nestling  low  on  a  green  knoll,  with  sur- 
rounding gardens,  gay  in  spring  with  multi-colored  tulips, 
and  bright  in  summer  with  fiery  canna  or  aureate  golden 
glow,  or  wrapped  in  winter  in  a  pure  white  blanket  of 
glistening  snow,  could  come  to  life  again,  he  would  see  a 
modern  industrial  beehive.  Smoky  skies,  blazing  blasts 
from  fiery  furnaces,  the  never  ceasing  machinery  in  a 
hundred  factories,  where  thousands  of  laborers  spend  their 
busy  days,  the  loaded  trucks  and  heavily  laden  ships  would 
all  meet  his  gaze.  To  him  and  to  all  his  companions  of 
that  day  these  changes  would  be  strange  and  frightful. 
He  would  no  longer  be  able  to  raise  his  own  food  or  make 
his  own  clothes.  No  longer  would  he  travel  on  horseback 
or  by  stage  on  land  or  in  skiffs  on  the  water.  His  day 
of  isolation  with  its  pastoral  and  simple  life  has  passed 
and  in  its  place  have  come  the  improved  methods  of  travel, 
of  heating,  of  illumination,  of  food  and  clothing  supply. 
To-day  is  the  era  of  factories,  furnaces,  shops,  and  foundries, 
all  evidences  of  the  great  commercial  and  industrial  era  in 
which  we  now  live. 


